Defrosted food

expat_jo

Hi

I was going to google this but don't even know what to ask and hoped that you kind people could help me!

I took some bacon out of the freezer yesterday for bacon sarnies today - except we didn't have them. I am home alone (hubby away for a few days) so how long do I have before I have to eat it? Do I have to finish it today?

Any ideas (apart from bacon sarnies ).

How long can you keep meat generally after defrosting before you need to throw it?

Many thanks once again ...

PasturesNew

You could fry it today then stick it back in the fridge to use in the next 2-3 days.

You can use bacon wrapped in cabbage leaves as a side dish, or make a quiche lorraine. You could even chop it up and use it as lardons in a macaroni cheese.

Pink.

It will be fine for breakfast tomorrow or do as Pasturesnew suggests and grill it and pop it back into the freezer for another time.

There are more ideas on this thread that might help:

What to do with bacon

I'll add your post to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

expat_jo

Thanks both for your speedy replies - I'm sorry, I didn't realise there was a thread already (doh!)

Silaqui

You could have a bit for brekkie tomorrow (yum on toast or bagels with a thin spreading of cream cheese). The why not use the rest up in a pasta sauce or pasta bake which you can then portion up and refrigerate/freeze depending on how soon you will use it
xx

expat_jo

Thanks. I decided to have a bacon sarnie and cooked the rest as suggested. My hubby likes cold cooked bacon so I will save it for him.

Thanks for the advice. I am useless with leftovers,etc. but am determined to learn! So, does that count for all meat - if I defrost it, as long as I cook it I can refreeze it (assuming the dish allows it)?

Pink.

expat_jo wrote: »

So, does that count for all meat - if I defrost it, as long as I cook it I can refreeze it (assuming the dish allows it)?

Hi Jo,

The general rule is that most things can be frozen once if they haven't been previously frozen in the same state. Eg if meat has been frozen raw, you can't defrost it and freeze it again in it's raw state, but you can change it's state (ie cook it) and refreeze it once. However if it was already cooked when frozen it can't be cooked and frozen again.

Pink

expat_jo

That's great, thanks Pink. And, as I am asking stupid questions ... how long can you reuse the meat of a cooked chicken (say from the Waitrose counter)? If I have one meal straight away and put the rest in the fridge. I think from the thread on here 3 days - but always throw away the next day if not used!

Many thanks again

tandraig

as a general rule - i use cooked meat within three days. If i know Im not going to use it up - I freeze it as soon as poss. if you then use it in another dish and there are leftovers - its not safe to freeze again.

tandraig

tho saying that - I used defrosted cooked prawns in a fishermans pie - and froze the leftovers!!! totally forgetting the prawns were cooked, frozen, defrosted and cooked again!!! no-one was ill - but i wouldnt recommend it!

expat_jo

So I could cook the pre-cooked chicken and then freeze it?